How to price homemade jam so it actually pays
Fruit is only part of what a jar of jam costs. Here is how to cost the whole batch, what one jar really costs and what to charge a shop.
Many small producers price jam on the cost of fruit and sugar. In a small kitchen that is less than a third of what a jar costs.
Cost the batch, not the jar
Jam is made in batches, so cost the whole batch and divide by the jars that actually came out of the pan. Fruit cooks down and some stays on the sides, so count jars after filling, not from the recipe.
Example: 14 jars of strawberry jam
| Item | Cost | |---|---| | 4 kg strawberries at £4 | £16.00 | | 2 kg sugar | £2.00 | | Pectin and lemon | £1.50 | | 14 jars with lids at £0.60 | £8.40 | | 14 labels | £1.40 | | Energy | £2.00 | | 2.5 hours of labour at £12 | £30.00 | | Total | £61.30 |
One jar costs £61.30 ÷ 14 = £4.38. Labour is about half of that. Our guide on pricing a custom cake shows how to set your hourly rate.
Your price at the market
For a 35% margin: £4.38 ÷ (1 − 0.35) = £6.74. Round up to £6.80. If margin and markup still get mixed up, read the difference explained.
Your price for shops
Shops need a margin too, usually around 30% of the shelf price. If a shop sells your jam at £6.80, it pays you £4.76, and your margin drops to 8%.
So your price to the shop is your own 35% price, £6.80, and the shop puts the jar on the shelf at around £9.80. If that is too much for its customers, you have two levers: bigger batches, because your time grows more slowly than the number of jars, or cheaper packaging.
Easy to forget
- Season. Strawberries in May and in July are two different prices. Recalculate after each purchase.
- Losses. Jars that crack or don't seal.
- Tasting jars and jars for family are a cost too.
How Lagom does it
In Lagom a recipe has its yield in jars. You enter ingredients at your last purchase price, jars, labels and labour, and Lagom shows the cost of one jar and the price for your target margin. When strawberries get dearer, you see which products fell below target and what price brings them back.